Footprints
by TheRoseShadow21
Summary: "Of course I am curious." She told him with a surprising amount of defiance "But the thing about love is that it isn't always about comprehension. It is about forgiveness, and sometimes just plain old being there. Even if I do not understand, I want to help." One-shot


**So, I was looking for a list of prompts that I could use for a one-sentence thing for a different fandom, and came across a prompt for 'relationship between two characters from the POV of a third'. So instantly, I thought Twelve and Lisa from Nine's POV. And that, combined with a partial idea I already had, resulted in this. **

**I hope you enjoy this. **

Love.

As a child, in that place, Nine had been told that, as an abandoned child, he was not loved. But they neglected to tell him what love was, so he had his doubts about whether that was true. So he decided to try and find it out-find out just what love was.

Not that it was easy by any means. To ask the people in that place would only result in a reminder of his unlovable state. So he waited, and waited, and finally escaped with Twelve into the wider world, where love did exist, where loved people lived their lives. There, he was fully able to observe love, to read love stories, to watch romance dramas on TV. He was able to begin to try and find what love was, in order to understand why he was not worthy of it.

But for all his investigating and observing, he did not try to find love for himself. Because it is easy to escape a building, but not so easy to escape an upbringing.

And then Lisa Mishima crashed into their lives.

Or, to be precise, they crashed into hers first. A hot summer's day, a school swimming pool. Lisa Mishima, surrounded by a gang of jeering schoolgirls. It was Twelve who talked to them, made a fool of himself, took the first step, while he just watched from a distance, hiding, obscure. But still, Lisa Mishima noticed him, and so he found himself floundering as he looked into eyes that were an image of the past.

The resemblance didn't escape Twelve either. Of all the names of their (temporary) fellow students he'd memorised, it was Lisa Mishima's that seemed to stick into his mind. And it seemed as if the two of them had made an impression on her. What else would explain the way she had bumped into Twelve in that isolated stairwell? Could be coincidence, but he didn't really like those. In any case, Twelve used a bit of quick thinking and managed to involve her in what they were doing. And then he gave the instructions that would save her. What choice did he have? It was something that they'd both agreed on when planning this-no deaths.

But it involved her. And just as he had told her that there was no going back for her, there was no going back for them either.

This was especially true of Twelve. He was the one who said 'don't get involved'; he too tried to keep her away, but in the end, it was Twelve who had the fascination with Lisa, who seemed to worry about her, and continued to track her on his phone until he eventually caved and decided to bring her to their home.

No, he had said. No. But then she fainted, and once again there was no going back.

Lisa Mishima was here to stay. And what a mess that was. She was clumsy, and a terrible cook. Well, she was gradually getting better, but still.

_But you know, there's value in terrible food. Do you remember the food we ate in that place?_

Twelve was right. He often was, even though he was way too cheerful for his own good. But Nine often found himself wondering if his comrade's judgement was failing him now. Ever since they had entered Lisa Mishima's life, and she had done the same in exchange, Twelve has been different. In some ways, Nine barely recognised him. But up until now, he had taken the change to be an experiment of sorts, something Twelve had done for his own amusement. Until now.

_But Lisa is on that plane!_

Nine had looked at the familiar face of Twelve and seen an unfamiliar expression of pain. He seemed horror-stricken at the thought of losing the girl. For all he didn't want to get outsiders involved, for all the girl was clumsy, she had left footprints on Twelve's very being, and if he was to lose her, who knows what he might do? For all Nine hadn't wanted her here, he did not want to see a friend hurting.

And this time around, when they saved her again, Nine didn't feel annoyed that once again there was no going back. Instead, while they got the hell out of there, he watched the way Twelve looked at Lisa, at the way she looked back at him. He attempted to discern their conversation, but instead of hearing words he heard the soft tones of concern, of worry. Of gratitude.

And then he remembered a snippet of conversation they'd had, just before they'd left.

"_You know nothing of what we do." He told her "You cannot understand, and yet you don't even ask? How are you getting involved with us and not asking anything?"_

"_Nine!" Twelve hissed in annoyance. Lisa looked down at the floor, abashed, but then suddenly, unexpectedly, looked him in the eye. _

"_Of course I am curious. "She told him with a surprising amount of defiance "But the thing about love is that it isn't always about comprehension. It is about forgiveness, and sometimes just plain old being there. Even if I do not understand, I want to help."_

Love.

The thing he had been aiming to understand but not expecting to experience. Love. The look he had seen on Twelve before they went to rescue her from the plane. That was love. Twelve loved Lisa. And seemingly, unfathomingly, she loved him too. She loved both of them.

On a hot summer's day, at a swimming pool (and later in a burning building), they had tracked footprints across her soul and then attempted to leave her. What a mistake that was. For once the footprints were there, she had to follow. And in return, she left footprints on Twelve's soul, meaning he would need to follow her in return, in order to feel complete. Following, and being followed. Helping, and being helped, in a surprising way. And now, by proxy, he had footprints of his own to follow.

Leaving footprints across someone's life, following those footprints, being followed in return. That, he realised now, was a type of love.

And, surprisingly, he was worthy of it.

**I feel like pointing out that this isn't necessarily romance, even though this is about love. Instead, this is just meant to be a cross between friendship and pure, unconditional love. Maybe between Twelve and Lisa there might be romance, but not on Nine's part. In any case, that wouldn't make sense, considering Nine is just discovering what love is. **

**Anyway, please leave feedback!**


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